[Comment] The need to call out corporate corruption in health

The 2023 Lancet Series on the commercial determinants of health1 highlighted how commercial organisations shape health policies, both positively and negatively. Some negative actions, such as spreading misleading narratives and lobbying to delay legislation, are legal but ethically questionable. Others, such as bribery, tax evasion, and complicity in smuggling, are illegal. Many actions fall into a grey zone between these extremes.1 Yet governments give commercial organisations considerable power, enabling them to shape regulations and exploit intellectual property rules.

Mar 26, 2025 - 00:38
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The 2023 Lancet Series on the commercial determinants of health1 highlighted how commercial organisations shape health policies, both positively and negatively. Some negative actions, such as spreading misleading narratives and lobbying to delay legislation, are legal but ethically questionable. Others, such as bribery, tax evasion, and complicity in smuggling, are illegal. Many actions fall into a grey zone between these extremes.1 Yet governments give commercial organisations considerable power, enabling them to shape regulations and exploit intellectual property rules.